Maben’s new town hall soon open to public

After more than a year of construction, Maben officials are set to officially open the town’s rebuilt town hall during a 1 p.m. Tuesday ceremony.

Mayor Larry Pruitt said the 2,000-square-foot, $319,000 building was funded by two $100,000 small municipality grants from the Mississippi Development Authority, a $65,000 rural community development grant and $50,000 deeded from late Maben resident Lloyd Cummins in his will. The town has also borrowed another $50,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the rebuilt facility, he said.

The new facility replaces the one torn down last year.

Unlike the previous town hall, the new building is accessible for the physically handicapped in accordance with the American Disabilities Act, Pruitt said.

“When I first entered office, the board of alderman and I made a list of down-the-road projects we would love to see happen for the town of Maben. That was in the top five — to have a decent place for citizens to come vote and pay their bills and to have a nice place for court, our judge and police officers,” Pruitt said.

He said Maben was able to get many of the grants through the work of Golden Triangle Planning and Development District Grant Administrator Phylis Benson and Executive Director Rudy Johnson.

Community support also played a major role in the construction process, Pruitt said.

“We had so many people involved in the community putting forth the effort to do what they could,” he said. “Everybody pitched in and was on the same page. We had people supporting it not only here but in surrounding communities in Oktibbeha County and Webster County.”

Maben Alderman Robert Herd said the new facility is long overdue and is a result of Pruitt’s tireless work and supervision of the project.

“We’re really proud of him. He went above and beyond what it took to get this done,” Herd said.